Apparatus for melting and fiberizing refractory materials



Feb. 18, 1958 E. R. POWELL 2 APPARATUS FOR MEL-TING AND FIBERIZINGREFRACTORY MATERIALS Filed Aug. 16, 1955 INVENTOR ZZWA/Ffl A? an 5,44

AWN Q NQ Q United States Patent 0 APPARATUS FOR MELTING AND FIBERIZINGREFRACTORY MATERIALS Edward R. Powell, North Plainfield, N. 1., assignorto Johns-Manville Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application August 16, 1955, Serial No. 528,609 2 Claims. (Cl.18-2.6)

The present invention relates to an apparatus for converting a moltenraw material into fibers, the apparatus being particularly adapted formelting and fiberizing inorganic refractory materials.

Conventional apparatus for melting and fiberizing nonrefractory slagsand glasses, while sometimes capable of tion.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects andadvantages thereof will become more apparent when reference is made tothe following detailed description and to the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Fig. l is a top plan view, partially in section, of a portion of theapparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus as seen from the bottom inFig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation of the apparatus as seenfrom the right in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings there is shown an open-top pot-type metalfurnace shell 2 having a portion of one side thereof extending outwardlyin the upper reaches of the furnace shell to form a relatively shallowforehearth 4 connected directly to the main melting area defined by thewalls of the furnace shell, there being a trough 6 and pouring lip 8(see Fig. 3) at the front wall of exit side of the forehearth portion.Metal shell 2 and the forehearth portion 4 mounted on the front wallthereof, including the pouring lip and trough, may, if desired, beprovided with water or other cooling means, in accordance withconventional practice, for example, as shown in U. S. Patent to RamseyerNo. 2,223,047.

Attached to one side of the furnace, by any convenient means, is atrunnion or pivot 10, preferably so arranged that the longitudinal axisthereof (aXis of tilt of the fur- Dace) lies substantially in alignmentwith the molten material exit from the furnace (outer end of trough 6).As shown in the drawing, the trough 6 preferably extends in the samegeneral direction as the axis of tilt of the furnace, whereby, it willbe apparent, tilting of the furnace results in a minimum change indirection of flow of discharged material. Trunnion 10 is supported forrotation in bearings 12 which are mounted in a fixed position on thebase structure (not shown). Attached to the side of shell 2 opposite thetrunnion 10 is a bracket 14 to which is secured one end of the cable 16of any conventional hoisting means (not shown) whereby the furnace maybe tilted around the longitudinal axis of the trunnion. If desired astop or support 17 may be positioned in the path of bracket 14.

Positioned beneath the outer end of the trough is a fiberizing means 18schematically shown, for purposes of illustration, as a multi-rotorapparatus of the type 2,823,416 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 shown in U. S.Patent to Powell No. 2,520,168. Conventionally, rotor fiberizingapparatus is mounted on a support means 20 which is pivotable about avertical axis whereby the apparatus may be swung into and out ofposition beneath pouring trough 6. If desired fluid jet or otherfiberizing means may be employed in lieu of the apparatus illustrated,the important feature of the invention lying not in the type offiberizer, but in the combination which permits delivery to thefiberizer of a stream of proper fluidity for fiberization. Thesubstantial alignment of the axis of trunnion 10 with the moltenmaterial exit of the furnace is an important feature of the presentinvention. With such substantial alignment, variations in the tilt ofthe furnace during operation will not, to any great extent, affecteither (1) the angle at which the stream approaches the fiberizer, or(2) the distance traveled by the stream from the trough to thefiberizer. The angle of approach of the stream is somewhat related tothe degree of spattering which will occur when the stream is interceptedby the fiberizer, this being particularly true with a rotary fiberizer,and the distance traveled by the stream in large measure dictates theamount of cooling of the stream and thus its fluidity at the time ofinterception.

Projecting downwardly into the pot formed by shell 2 are primaryelectrodes 22 preferably three in number and connected in a three phasecircuit. Projecting downwardly into forehearth portion 4 are auxiliarysmaller electrodes 24 preferably two in number and thus connected in asingle phase circuit. All of the electrodes are preferably supported totilt with the furnace by any convenient means, several of which would beobvious to any skilled mechanic. Also, the electrodes should bevertically adjustable in accordance with conventional practice (as shownby U. S. Patent to Hitner No. 2,122,469 and U. S. Patent to Hopkins No.2,310,635) so that the electrodes may always be made to penetrate themolten material to the proper depth.

In operation, the furnace is charged with refractory furnish and themelting process initiated in the usual manner. A fused bath of materialforms around the electrodes which are arranged to penetrate the bath asin conventional resistance heating. The refractory material adjacent thewalls of shell 2 does not fuse and acts to protect the walls against theextreme heat of the bath. The molten material flows (assuming the properfurnace tilt) in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1 from the primarymelting zone around large electrodes 22 toward the secondary forehearthzone with which the primary zone communicates. The purpose of theforehearth zone is to maintain the melt at a high enough temperature atthe region adjacent pouring lip 8 that a continuous stream having theproper fluidity may be fed to the fiberizing unit. The temperature ofthe melt, of course, depends upon the arrangement of the electrodes andthe electrical power supplied, this being well understood by thoseskilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention in rather full detail, it will beunderstood that these details need not be strictly adhered to and thatvarious changes and modifications may suggest themselves to one skilledin the art, all falling within the scope of the invention as defined bythe subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for melting and fiberizing molten material, a furnace,means mounting said furnace for tilting, a molten material exit for saidfurnace located in substantial alignment with the axis of tilt, saidmolten material exit being the discharge end of a trough extending inthe general direction of said axis and fiberizing means positionedadjacent said exit.

2. Apparatus for melting and fiberizing molten mateaazaem V 3 rial, afurnace, means mounting said furnace for tilting, a molten material exitfor said furnace lying on the axis of tilt, said molten material exitbeing the discharge end of a trough extending in the general directionof said axis and fiberizing means positioned adjacent said exit. 5

2,122,469 Hitner my 5, 1938 10 4 Ramseyer Nov. 26, 1940 Ramseyer Jan.28, 1941 Hopkins Feb. 9, 1943 Powell Aug. 29, 1950 McMullen Aug. 17,1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 24, 1954 France Feb. 17, 1954

